After Filing for Bankruptcy, Here’s What’s Next for Gander Mountain

Here’s an update for those of you who are Gander Mountain fans. Brace yourself. Things are slightly messy.

In March, Gander Mountain filed for voluntary Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and looked for a potential buyer. After no one came forward, the company worked to restructure. They initially decided to close 32 under-performing stores.

On May 1, Camping World Holdings, Inc. acquired Gander Mountain and Overton’s. Under the agreement, Camping World acquired Gander Mountain’s existing leases and employees. Gander Mountain, however, has to liquidate all of their current inventory nationwide.

“The structure of our deal provides much flexibility and will not only allow us to refine the inventory selection and select only those stores which are profitable, or we believe have a clear path to profitability, but will also allow us to immediately offer our comprehensive portfolio of services, protection plans, products and resources to the existing Gander Mountain and Overton customer base and in stores in which we elect to operate,” Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis said in a statement. “While we are obligated to assume a minimum of seventeen leases, our designation rights will allow us to operate stores and retain employees at a number to maximize profitability.”

This might not be the end of Gander Mountain, as a whole, though.

“After reviewing the stores in more detail since our successful bid in the bankruptcy process, our current goal is [to] operate seventy or more, locations subject to, among other things, our ability to negotiate lease terms with landlords on terms acceptable to us and approval of the Bankruptcy Court. The current liquidation of the existing Gander Mountain inventory will allow us to start with a clean slate of what we consider the appropriate mix and level of inventory, including the addition of Camping World and Overton’s offerings where appropriate,” Lemonis said in a statement.

The best part of this entire deal? Camping World’s Marcus Lemonis is actually the star of CNBC’s show “The Profit,” so he has great business sense…and a following.

In fact, Lemonis has taken to his personal Twitter account to update customers of the acquisition.

Beth Baumann is a public relations professional in Northern Idaho. Beth is a campaign veteran who has worked on numerous state and federal elections. In 2014, she was the Communications Assistant for the American Conservative Union, where she helped plan and execute media relations strategies for CPAC 2014. She is an avid Second Amendment supporter and advocate and loves fishing in her free time. You can follow her on Twitter at @eb454.
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